Method of sealing boxes.



L. D. MORTON.

METHOD OF SEALING BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1910.

1, 1&4;,773. Patented June 29, 1915;

wi'fnzgggg fnrzni'ay UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE ID. MORTON, OF SANDUSKY, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HIND'E AND DAUCH PAPER COMPANY, OF SANDUSKY, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO;

lMETHOD F SEALING BOXES.

} Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 29, 1915,

Application filed March 12, 1910. Serial No. 548,935.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lxwnnzvcn D. Mon'roN,

a citizen of the United States of America,

residing at Sandusky, in the county of Erie and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Scaling Boxes, of which the following is a. specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

It is the object of the invention to expedite the work of sealing paperboard boxes,-

and to this end, the invention consists in the construction as hereinafter setforth.

In the drawings Figure '1 isa perspective view of the machine in which my improved method is carried out; Fig. 2 is a cross section illustrating certain parts of the machine; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the boxes to be sealed before it is engaged with the machine. Y

My improvement is intended for usein connection with paperboard boxes or cartons, in which goods of various kinds are packed for shipment. These boxes are gen erally provided with overlapping flaps, which are closed after the insertion of the article in the package, and it is the usual practice to seal. the boxes by placing some adhesive material on the innerfaces of the outer flaps, and then press them in contact with the inner flaps. In thesealing operation, it is necessary to hold the flaps in contact with each' other for su'liicicnt time to permit the adhesive material to set, and

where this is done by hand'valuable time is 7 lost.

' \Vith my improved method, the boxes are. first sealed, andare then successively placed.

in contact with a series of boxes previously sealed, whereby the latter form an abutment for holding the freshly sealed flaps closed. At the same time, each added box will feed the whole series forward, and when the point of disengagementis reached the ad The carrying hesive material is fully set.

out of this process is facilitated by the use of a machine constructed as follows: A is a trough-shaped guide arranged in a slight inclination from the horizontal. B is a crank or other mechanical member which is connected by a pitman C with a reciproca tory plunger D slidably secured in bearings E at one end of the trough. F is a follower head upon the plunger 1), which is preferably approximately the size of the box to be sealed. G are latch dogs or detents arranged in rear of the follower and adjacent to the sides of the trough.

In operation, the-motion of the crank B will reciprocate, the plunger and follower F a distance somewhat greater than the width of the box to be sealed. The operator applies the adhesive material to the flaps of the box successively, and then places the box in the path of the plunger and follower F which in the forward stroke will press the box against the series of boxes previously.

sealed, and will simultaneously close the flaps upon both sides of the box. Before the return stroke of the plunger, the dogs G will engage with the rear face of the box, holding the flaps thereof from opening and the box fromsliding backward... in the trough. Thus one after another the boxes are sealed and theflapsheld closed without any further attention of the operator. What I claim as my invention is: The method of sealing boxes having overlapping flaps, which consists in applying vadhesive, to one of the contacting surfaces of the overlapping flaps of each box, then placing the box,in an inclined series of previously sealedboxes, and then in one operation overlapping thefiaps of the box last added to the series against the front or rear face of the box, and displacing the en tire series longitudinally and upwardly a certain distance, the contact of the boxes of 

